With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a hamper on many summer activities throughout the community, officials from the City of Hattiesburg set to work putting together ideas to keep youth engaged and safe during the hot summer months.
After seeing the idea of a splash pad program in a similar-sized city in Kentucky, the Hattiesburg Fire Department and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department have teamed up to provide Summer Splash Days each Tuesday and Thursday in July.
The events, in which water will be pumped through the fire department’s pumper trucks, will essentially transform parking lots to water play places at several parks throughout the city.
“COVID-19 has really kind of changed a lot of our programming within our Parks and Recreation Department for our youth,” said Samantha McCain, the city’s chief communications officer. “(So after seeing that in Kentucky), we felt like it was an opportunity to see if it would work here.
“So basically, the hope is to provide a little summer fun and a way to cool off. It’s hot, and it’s only going to get hotter, so this will be a unique and fun way to do something for our children to participate in while collaborating between two departments.”
The Summer Splash Days began July 14 at Chain Park and will continue from 2-3 p.m. at the following dates and locations:
• July 16 at Thames Elementary.
• July 21 at Vernon Dahmer Park.
• July 23 at Tatum Park.
• July 28 at Duncan Lake.
• July 30 at C.E. Roy walking track/playground.
To maintain standards from the state Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control, a maximum of 100 participants will be allowed at one time.
Social distancing will be enforced at these events.
Additionally, no tours of the truck will take place at these events, and equipment will only be handled by HFD employees.
“We just invite our youth and family members, if they feel like they would like to attend as well, to come enjoy some water play while practicing safe social distancing,” McCain said. “We have had some requests for some additional spaces, but we’re going to kind of gauge what response looks like at all of these spaces and then decide if we need to run it through August.
“We know it’s hot here through October, and if things continue the way they have, we may need to set up some alternative play spaces for programming. But we’ll gauge success and participation off of these first ones to see what they look like.”
